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Australian union committed to supporting Fiji unions

The Australian Workers Union passed a motion in support of Fiji's trade unions at the AWU conference last week.

ABC

An Australian trade union official says his members remain committed to helping their counterparts in Fiji in the lead-up to the nation's elections.

Australian Workers Union South Australian branch secretary Wayne Hanson has told Radio Australia's Pacific Beat Fiji union officials are spied on, assaulted and denied their rights.

"Those codes of behaviour that are currently in effect in Fiji are unacceptable to, not only people in Fiji, but also people in Australia," he said.

Mr Hanson moved a motion in support of Fiji trade unions at the AWU conference last week, which was passed.

He says the AWU conference heard directly about the situation from a Fijian union leader.

Mr Hanson describes the move to ban Fiji's trade union officials from political parties as "disgraceful" but says the AWU is "by no means" supporting a political movement in Fiji by taking this stance.

"What we want to see is the Fijian regime honour their commitment to return the Fijian system to a democracy by 2014," he said.

Fiji is scheduled to hold its general elections in 2014.

Trade union officials in Fiji have been banned from political parties, in a move the International Trade Union Confederation says is "an affront to democratic principles".

Fiji Council of Trade Unions general secretary Felix Anthony says he is still planning to set up a political party in defiance of the coup installed military government's rules.